|
 | Sertoes International Rally: After the survey, the course verification starts.
|
After checking some possible routes for the greatest off-road Brazilian adventure by plane, technical director Edu Sachs initiates the work to design the road book for the event’s 18th edition. If completing a Sertões International Rally is difficult for drivers and teams, completing three is a task that also demands a lot of body, mind and machine efforts.
And this task is up to the technical director Edu Sachs, from Dunas Race, organizer of the rally. Along with José Luiz Munhoz, Sachs started last Wednesday (4) the second phase of planning the itinerary of the 2010 edition, the 18th in the history of the greatest off-road adventure in Brazil, which begins on August 10th in Goiania (GO) and ends on the 21st in Fortaleza (CE).
The first phase, held just over a month, consisted of an aerial survey by the likely areas that will compose the route of the rally. The surveyors used an aircraft that was specially equipped for recording the path to be crossed during the race. For Sachs, the land survey is more of a verification of the work previously done on board the plane. "The path does not usually change much compared to what we planned when flying over. Last year, 95% of the course that was visualized and designed from above remained the same after the verification made on the ground," said the technical director.
"At first, we did all the checking of the equipment in the L200 Outdoor pickup we would be using at the verification of the route. We are well equipped with a winch, two spare tires, steel cables, complete navigation equipment and everything else. Being alone in Sertões’ course, we can not afford to need any kind of assistance," said Sachs.
With Munhoz behind the wheel, Edu Sachs is in charge of recording the information of the course, which then will be used on the road book that will guide the contestants in the Sertões International Rally. According to the technical director, the verification held on the ground is important because it detects obstacles that are not always visible from the sky. "In some farms, for example, we can not see the high wire fences, or the depth of a given river, or even the resistance of a bridge. So driving all the way allow us to check everything more closely and carefully," he said.
"The main thing is to confirm and validate the points raised by the aircraft since it’s not possible to accurately determine the exact point of a crossroads, for example. When the section is within a forest, there may be an inaccuracy of up to 800 meters. We can get the azimuths by air, but the exact precision is only possible when we drive by the roads," he explained.
This phase of the survey work of the course should last between 15 and 20 days, when the duo arrive in Fortaleza, the final destination of the rally. "After this phase, we must go back to São Paulo with the complete course designed, to be presented at the drivers and teams briefing. But before the final course we will have another land verification, which points all the details of the road book," he added. In the latest edition of Sertões International Rally all the foreign teams were unanimous in recognizing the quality of road books and the survey done by Dunas Race’s technical staff.
More information for the participant teams can be obtained with Sabrina Proença, by phone + 55 11 4191-0133, or e-mail [ sabrina@dunas.com.br ] or check out event website at [ www.sertoes.com ].
2010/05/18 | 11:24 CET | ARTICLE: MR/HS/PROENCA
|
|
